Archive for the ‘Climate’ Category
Hot summer predicted for Spain
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
Temperatures this summer in Spain are tentatively predicted to be well above average this year (2010). Rainfall, such as it is in the summer, is set to be normal. More here from Spanish weatherman Maldonado
Spring in Spain
Monday, March 22nd, 2010Absolutely gorgeous weather the last few days. A baby Blackbird fully fledged but with its yellow gape visible, feeding on the riverbank. The Black redstarts singing from the rooftops. A baby Sparrow being fed on the terrace. The rooks in the various colonies busily repairing their nests. A trip to get some soil for the pots, along with fertilizer for the roses and shrubs. Two mornings spent clearing up the terrace of plants that did not survive the winter. The roses pruned and showing their new shoots. Daffodils and Crocus in flower. Oh yes spring has arrived in León
- La Crónica Verde gives a short round-up of what to expect this spring.
Wettest winter for 51 years in Spain
Saturday, March 13th, 2010
The rainfall records for Spain keep tumbling. According to the latest provisional figures from Aemet, this winter has the wettest in Spain for the past 51 years (since 1959), and 43% more than the average for the benchmark period of 1971-2000. Andalucía, Catalonia and Castilla-La Mancha have seen the most precipitation (rain and snow). Reservoirs are now at 72% of capacity, which is 27% more than the average for the last 10 years. And more rain is expected. Público Weather records in Spain in January
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
A number of weather records were smashed in Spain in January 2010. There will be more for February when they are published. (more…)
Rain in February in Spain
Monday, March 8th, 2010
According to the INM, February was the wettest for 30 years in Spain. See also rain in Andalucia in February. This comes after a very wet January. March has begun with heavy rains and snowfalls. When will it end?
Rain in Andalucia
Saturday, March 6th, 2010
The rains keep falling. Rainfall in Andalucia in February, after a very wet January, was THREE times as high as average in the last thirty years. Parts of Cadiz received more than 200mm. Recent records have been smashed across the region. More from El Periodico
See also Rainy Spain
Rainy Spain
Friday, February 26th, 2010
This winter is proving remarkable wet. Precipitation this year in southern Spain has been so far the highest since 1963, with Sevilla receiving more rain than in the last 60 years. According to the INM, in Spain as a whole, January was 43% wetter than average for the period 1971-2000. The above map shows how this played across the country in terms of percentage of precipitation above average. Albacete received for instance, more precipitation since 1941 when this series of records began. In the same province of Castilla-La Mancha, the rains have helped save the much maligned Tablas de Damiel. Unsurprisingly, reservoirs are overflowing and many have had to open their gates. Temperatures have so far been normal.
Risk of drought exaggerated by the press
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
Researchers from the University of Barcelona have analysed all the articles published in the La Vanguardia newspaper between 1982 and 2007 linked to natural hazards, climate change and sustainable development. Over 25 years the press devoted more headlines to forest fires and droughts, even though floods are much more frequent and cause more damage. The article’s main author Carme Llasat comments:
If the press focus more on forest fires and droughts, then people also become more aware of these events, to such an extent that they are deemed a more significant hazard in the area and more frequent occurrences than they really are”This is a fascinating study on how the media fuels the public perception of environmental hazards. More here
Warm October
Saturday, November 7th, 2009
Summer has seemingly refused to die this year in Spain. Official figures show that October was the fourth hottest since 1971, after 1995, 19997 and 2006. In some areas, temperature were as much three degrees above average. Rainfall was slightly below normal values.
These temperatures had been predicted at the start of the month. In a similar vein, temperatures in August in Spain were “extremely hot”, being the third highest since 1970 (2003 and 2005 were hotter).
Warm autumn predicted
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
The Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET) is predicting a warm autumn for 2009 with temperatures 1 to 1.5ºC above average, especially for the Mediterranean area. Precipitation figures are expected to be normal. In a similar vein, temperatures in August in Spain were “extremely hot”, being the third highest since 1970 (2003 and 2005 were hotter). The hottest temperature was recorded in Alcantarilla (Murcia) on 23 August with a scorching 45ºC. El Mundo
Electrical storm
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009Stunning image of the immense power of an electrical storm in Alicante by Big Vern over on the forum, where he notes:
…we witnessed the most spectacular electrical storm I have ever seen, including those I’ve experienced in the tropics. We live in the Orba valley in the north of the Costa Blanca and this storm seemed to be out at sea; the thunder was very distant. The lightning was continuous and multiple, striking out in all directions – in fact I never saw any of the bolts go to earth. This fantastic light display continued for almost 15 minutes until the huge thunderhead cloud started to break up. Read more
Spanish winter not so cold
Thursday, March 19th, 2009Despite our impressions, it seems that this year’s winter in Spain has not been so cold. According to the Agencia Estatal de Meteorología (Aemet) winter registered an average temperature of 7.4º, more than half a point more than the same period for 2004 and 2005. The sensation of cold is due perhaps to the occasional extreme spells.
El País
And according to the AEMET 2008 has been a warm year in comparison with the 1971-2000 period, though it has been the coldest since 1996 with an average temperature of 15.0 ºC.
AEMET (pdf)
Disappearance of glaciers in the Pyrenees
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009Another study has highlighted the likely disappearance of the glaciers in the Pyrenees in the next 40-50 years.
Since the first study by French geographer Franz Schrader in 1894, the Pyrenean glaciers have lost 88 percent of their 1,779-hectare surface area, according to a report by the Spanish Ministry of the Environment. Low rainfall and the rise in temperatures is leading to their rapid melting, and it is estimated that by the middle of the century, they will have vanished altogether. This has accelerated in recent years with the glaciers losing 72 hectares between 2002 and 2008. One of the most striking examples is that of La Madaleta glacier, one of the largest in the Pyrenees, whose thickness has shrunk by 180 metres since 1991 at an average rate of 11 metes a year. The absence of snowfall in summer in recent years has exacerbated this regression. Lower snowfall is also likely to spell long-ter, disaster for the skiing industry.
- El Pirineo español se funde (El País)
- Glaciers to disappear in the Pyrenees by 2050 (more details)
- Glaciers in Spain (2004) Spanish glaciers melting fast Greenpeace has released a report on the state of Spain’s glaciers. The glaciers on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees are melting fast.. Total surface area has dropped from 1779 hectares in 1894 to 290 in 2000, representing a fall of 85% in of surface area. 52% of this has occurred in the last 20 years, and 30% between 1991 and 2001.
Climate change affecting wine in Spain
Monday, October 27th, 2008
Climate change is beginning to affect vineyards in Spain. The start of the grape harvest has moved forward 11 days in the last 20 years. This is increasingly seen as a major threat to the wine industry in Spain and elsewhere. According to the experts, until now the changes to grapes caused by higher temperatures (fruitier flavours, higher acidity and higher concentrations of alcohol) have generally had a positive impact on the taste of wines. But if temperatures keep rising in Spain, wines could soon taste very different, ruining some vintages.
- El cambio climático amenaza al vino (El Mundo – Foto above: Vicente Sotés)
- Spanish wine makers fight climate change (BBC)
Glaciers to disappear in the Pyrenees by 2050
Saturday, September 6th, 2008
Glaciar de Monteperdido in the Aragonese Pyrenees (El País)
A Spanish study published in The Holocene has concluded that the progressive rise in temperatures since 1890 will lead to the total disappearance of the Pyrenean glaciers by 2050.
Glaciers advanced during the Little Ice Age (LIA) between 1300 and 1860 in the Pyrenees, Picos de Europa and Sierra Nevada. These were most extensive in the Pyrenees (because of altitude and latitude) but today glaciers remain only in the highest peaks. There were six glaciers in the Picos de Europa Massif during the LIA, and one glacier, the southernmost of Europe, in the Sierra Nevada (Pico de Veleta). All of these glaciers have been in continuous retreat since the end of the nineteenth century, 94 have disappeared completely (Veleta in 1913), leaving 29 glaciers in the Pyrenees (10 in Spain, 11 in France), four buried icepatches in the Picos de Europa and one buried icepatch in the Sierra Nevada. The last 15 years has seen a 50-60% reduction in surface area of the largest glaciers.
The Little Ice Age was not a continuous period of cold. These Iberian glaciers expanded most rapidly between 1645 and 1710, and then shrunk between 1750 and the early 19th century but then recovered after a new cold period. Since the end of the 19th century temperatures have risen more sharply by 0.7ºC and 0.9ºC in the mountains in northern Spain in line with global warming. El País
See also
- Climate guide to Spain
- The Little Ice Age in Spain
- Glaciers in Spain (2004) Spanish glaciers melting fast Greenpeace has released a report on the state of Spain’s glaciers. The glaciers on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees are melting fast.. Total surface area has dropped from 1779 hectares in 1894 to 290 in 2000, representing a fall of 85% in of surface area. 52% of this has occurred in the last 20 years, and 30% between 1991 and 2001.
